Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura
Somanatha Dandanayaka built the Chennakeshava temple after receiving funds from the reigning Hoysala king Narasimha III in 1268 CE. This schist stone temple stands in the centre of a rectangular courtyard. A prakara wall surrounds it, containing 56 small shrines that once housed deities. The east is the direction of this trikuta (triple-celled) temple dedicated to God Vishnu. The temple is accessed via a flight of steps marked by a plain doorway tanked by dvarapalas (door guardians). It has garbhagrihas (sanctums), antaralas or sukanasis (antechambers), a common navaranga (central pillared hall), and mukhamandapa or dvaramandapa (entrance halls) on the plan. Keshava, Janardhana, and Venugopala are depicted on the three garbhagrihas in the west, north, and south.
In the 13th century CE, a general named Somanatha (Someya Dandanayaka in some inscriptions), who was an influential minister and commander to Hoysala King Narasimha III, founded Somanathapura. Somanatha established an agrahara, a grant of land to Brahmins with resources dedicated to constructing and maintaining temples. Somanatha-pura became the name of the town (pura) after its patron.
The Shikara is built in the Vesara style, prevalent in Hoysala and Chalukya temples and is seen mainly in Karnataka, with the tower moving towards a lower conical shape and highly ornate carvings. This rich ornamentation and meticulous attention to detail were made feasible by properly discovering and using the properties of schist, the fine-grained, comparatively soft material used by the Hoysalas for their temples.
Srikara pillar
These are highly polished circular pillars with inverted bell capitals and shafts decorated with precise, razor-sharp ridges that alternate with thin decorative bands. Scholars believe these were made on a lathe, though the exact technology used is unknown.
Indrakanta pillar
These are ribbed stellate-like (star-shaped) pillars with 16, 32, or 64 points. These pillars in Belur also have figural sculptures emerging from them, demonstrating the artistry of the Hoysalas.
Sculpture of deities
Keshava (left), Janardhana (center), and Venugopala (right) the three idols of the gods inside the garbhagrihas of the temple.
Mahishamardini Sculpture
Mahisha (half human, half buffalo demon) is trampled with her right leg by the eight-armed Goddess and fights the human form of the demon that emerges from the slain buffalo. Her vehicle, a lion, is also fighting a demon with a sword and shield in the corner. The Goddess's lower right hand pierces the demon's entrails with a trident, and her lower left hand firmly grips the demon's head. Another lower right-hand stabs another demon with a dagger, while the other two hands on the right are mutilated at the elbow. One of the left hands is broken, but the others hold a bell and a shield. Mallitamma created the sculpture, the name of the sculptor is engraved on the walls besides their work.
Details of the carvings
Adhisthana (plinth)
The Adhisthana (plinth) has multi-registered sculptural friezes that appear three-dimensional. The sculptural bands of the adhisthana represent the biosphere with its constituent elements of land, water, and air. The multi-course adhisthana is a Hoysala temple form hallmark unparalleled in its conception and execution. The mandapa's adhisthana (plinth) has a six-tiered frieze with elephants, riders, and attendants at the bottom, parades of cavalry with horsemen, foliated creepers and stems with scenes from the epic Mahabharata, standing deities and maidens alternating with a line of single pilasters topped with miniature viscera and bhumija shikhara at the top. Above these mouldings are sculpture panels and kakshasana (seating with a sloped backrest). Jalis (decorative stone screens) are placed above the kakshasana, followed by the chadya (eave). The garbhagriha's (sanctum's) adhisthana (plinth) has a six-tiered frieze, with elephants, horses with their riders wielding weapons and many of them trampling an enemy underfoot, decorative foliage, narrative friezes, mythical makaras (stylised crocodiles), and hamsas (stylised swans or geese). Narrations from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavata Purana can be found on the narrative friezes.
Bhitti and Sculptors
The temple's walls, known as bhitti, include the walls of the mandapa (the central pillared hall) and the garbhagriha (sanctum). On pedestals in the bhitti are sculptures of gods, goddesses, attendants, and celestial beings. These sculptures are framed by foliated canopies and, in the western shrine, also by pilasters. Above the row of statues are complex columns that support high-relief models of viscera and bhumija shikharas. The majority of the sculptures on the bhitti are from the Vaishnava pantheon. It depicts the Chaturvimsati Vishnu (24 forms of Vishnu) and ten avatars of Vishnu in the order prescribed by religious texts.
There is also a rare sculpture of Dhanvantari, a minor incarnation of Vishnu. Ganesha, Mahishamardini, Shiva, Brahma, Indra, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Manmatha, Surya, and other deities are also depicted. The chadya, which runs the length of the temple, serves as a barrier between the bhitti and the temple's superstructure.
The many artist-label inscriptions beneath the prominent Somanathapura temple sculptures are a striking feature. Mallitamma (Malli), Baleya, Chaudeya, Bamaya, Masanitamma, Bharmaya, Nanjaya, and Yalamasay are among them. The names of at least ten artists appear repeatedly beneath various sculptures. Mallitamma is the most well-known of these and is also associated with other Hoysala temples. Interestingly, we can see the work of two distinct guilds among the external figure sculptures at Somanathapura. The first guild, which worked on the northern and southern shrines, specialized in short, stocky figures with round faces and heavy crowns standing beneath a luxuriously projecting canopy of intricately carved leaves and flowers. The second guild's artists created formally posed figures of Vishnu and other gods and attendants with narrower faces, smaller crowns, slender bodies, and wide hips for the western vimana. These gods are seated beneath scalloped prabhavalis resembling Kalyani Chalukya divine images, with pilasters and shikharas above them.
Carvings on the Bhitti of the temple
Intricate details on the sculptures. The image on left, notice how the shikara of the temple is carved on the temple. The image on right, the sankh depicts the attributes of Vishnu.
Each ceiling is unique in its design and features concentric rings of four to six tiers with intricate, rib-like elements, multiple lobes, rhythmic geometric patterns, and sinuous floral components. The hanging banana flower can be seen in the first image; a complicated interlace design is carved separately in stone and skillfully twist-locked into place. The use of a regional motif - banana flower in various stages of opening - as the central pendant of the ceilings is a unique feature.
